The Offices of Jessica C. Sullivan LCSW, PLLC

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Our Services

Find the right combination for your health needs with our unique specialities in both mental health and nutrition.

Counseling & Psychotherapy

Counseling

What is Counseling & Psychotherapy?

We are proud to provide our clients with Counseling and Psychotherapy services.

Our emotional well-being plays an integral role in our overall health and success. Our clinician’s understand that making the choice to seek counseling can be difficult and strive to provide a safe, welcoming environment. We place a heavy emphasis on developing a strong, supportive and healing relationship with clients. Working together to uncover the “why” behind your struggles in order to provide lasting and life-changing results, our specialized training provides us with a unique insight into your emotional well-being, helping to challenge you to take a different look at the world around you and your role within it.

Here at Nourish Your Mind, we offer unique insight through special training in the following:

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy
  • Trauma-Focused CBT
  • Eating Disorders & Body Image
  • Mind-Body Nutrition & Eating Psychology
  • Nutritional Therapy
  • Mindfulness & Meditation
  • Yoga & Movement

Counseling can help to break down mental and emotional barriers standing in the way of your goals. In the daily rush of stress that we all experience, it is easy to get caught up in negative feelings, which ultimately takes a toll on our emotional and physical state. Having a safe place to discuss and work through these emotions can serve as a way to move past them and learn to handle stress in a more successful way.

In our work with clients, we place an emphasis on healthy living and firmly believe that improvements in self-care and physical health will ultimately lead to better emotional health. Counseling can help you achieve a different outlook on life by developing a strong understanding of the mind-body connection and it’s role in your specific emotional difficulties.
 
We specialize in helping clients through anxiety, depression, chronic illness, chronic pain, eating disorders, weight loss issues, women’s health and low self esteem. Seeking help takes courage! Our therapeutic approach is strengths-based, nonjudgmental and tailored to each client’s specific needs. Each session, you will leave with hands-on techniques to utilize day to day that will help you tackle the challenges of life.
 
Are you curious about how your emotional and physical health are connected? Looking for a therapeutic partnership that will provide lasting improvements to your overall well being? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
We work to support people struggling with the following difficulties:
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Self Esteem
  • Eating Disorders
  • Grief
  • Body Image
  • Relationship Issues
  • Weight Loss
  • ADD/ADHD
  • Career Troubles
  • Chronic Pain
  • School Issues
  • Family Conflict
  • Peer Relationships
  • Sleep or Insomnia
  • Women’s Health Issues
Experience a new kind of counseling and be challenged to take control of your life – We will be there to support you through each step along the way!

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

DBT Skills Group

We are currently offering the following DBT Group Sessions:

Young Adult DBT Skills Group – Wednesdays at 6:15pm

What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that treats problems and boosts positivity by modifying dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Unlike traditional psychoanalysis, which probes childhood wounds to get at the root causes of conflict, CBT focuses on solutions, encouraging clients to challenge distorted cognitions and change destructive patterns of behavior.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a form of CBT that helps to decrease negative thinking, change behavioral patterns and improve your quality of life. DBT focuses on learning and implementing coping skills to effectively modulate thinking and behavior.

Clients who engage in DBT therapy focus on building skills in the following areas:

  • Mindfulness Skills
  • Interpersonal Effectiveness
  • Distress Tolerance
  • Emotional Regulation
DBT Treatment has been shown to benefit individuals with the following:
  • Mood Swings
  • Impulsivity
  • Anger Problems
  • Eating Disorders
  • Post-Traumatic Stress
  • Depression
  • Self-Injurious Behavior
  • Anxiety
  • Substance Abuse
  • Poor Self-Esteem
  • Perfectionism

“One Size Fits All” does not work in psychotherapy.

We work with DBT in a way that’s personalized to your specific needs. While some clients thrive in a structured DBT-oriented treatment plan, others do best with merging DBT with other therapeutic techniques.

Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating Disorder & Body Image Treatment

Are you ready to “Nourish Your Mind” with recovery? We specialize in Eating Disorders & Body Image and offer a holistic, collaborative approach to recovery. Let us guide you to connect with your body, overcome negative patterns and live a fulfilling life.

We work to build a safe space for adolescents and adults struggling with eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and OSFED (other specified feeding or eating disorder), as well as disordered eating and body image

Do any of these feelings cause “emptiness” inside of you?
  • Preoccupation with food or weight.
  • Use of food to avoid distract, punish or reward yourself.
  • Restricting, binging and purging of food, or over-exercising.
  • Negative self-thoughts about yourself or your body.
  • Isolation or avoidance of relationships due to low self-esteem or self-worth.
  • Anxiety or depression leading to unhealthy cycles of behavior.
Are you ready to “nourish your mind” with recovery?
  • Learning to “feed” yourself without the use of food.
  • Understanding the “gray” feelings: less black and white thinking.
  • Creating healthy positive coping skills to reduce symptoms.
  • Introducing self-care and “life beyond the scale.”
  • Expression of healthy emotions in all relationships.
  • Connecting with our bodies through mindfulness, meditation and movement.
Is nutrition a part of your recovery?

If you’re interested in further enhancing your therapeutic progress, we offer Mind-Body Nutrition sessions with a certified Nutritional Therapist. These nutrition sessions will work directly to help you achieve your therapeutic goals from your primary mental health clinician.

Already working with a nutritionist or other health professional? We look forward to being a collaborative part of your recovery team!

Ready to get started?

Mind-Body Nutrition

Nutrition

What is Mind-Body Nutrition?

Mind-Body Nutrition unites Holistic Nutrition, Behavioral Psychology and Empowerment through Education to provide you with a comprehensive and unique service that transcends mainstream nutrition services and gives you insight into your relationship and behavior patterns with food.

Mind-Body Nutrition looks at the psychophysiology of how digestion, assimilation, calorie burning and all the nutritive functions of the body are literally and scientifically impacted by stress, relaxation, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, pleasure, eating rhythm, eating speed, awareness, our past experiences, and more.

To put it simply…. There’s a lot more to it than just WHAT you eat.

According to the well accepted research, STRESS has the following impact:

  • De-regulates appetite and drives us to eat more.
  • Increases cortisol and insulin which signal weight gain.
  • Decreased muscle growth.
  • Causes digestive upset.
  • Leads to intense nutrient excretion.
  • Kills healthy gut bacteria.
  • Increases unhealthy cholesterol levels.
  • Can lower thyroid and growth hormone levels.
  • Can make us more susceptible to food allergies.
  • and the list goes on.

Nutrient balance is the key to success! We are rooted in the belief that given the right tools – with proper nutrition and lifestyle habits – our bodies can attain balance and achieve optimal health. With Mind-Body Nutrition, negative symptoms can be prevented, managed and often reversed. Our mental, physical and emotional state all depend on our ability to not only eat, but absorb and properly utilize, the nutrients from our diet.

By using a Mind-Body Nutrition approach, we are able identify the root causes of ailments. By identifying root causes, rather than just “fixing” symptoms, we can work towards living a fuller, richer, and more balanced life.

Common Symptoms

  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Digestive Issues
  • Mood Problems
  • Stress
  • Difficultly Losing Weight
  • Trouble Concentrating
  • Memory Issues
  • Joint Pain/Muscle Weakness
  • Food Cravings
  • Frequent Illness
  • Allergies

Common Disease States

  • Autoimmune Disorders
  • Digestive Diseases
  • Thyroid Problems
  • Adrenal Fatigue
  • ADD/ADHD
  • Eating Disorders
  • Blood Sugar Issues
  • Skin Issues
  • Chronic Pain and Inflammation
  • Psychological Issues
  • Autism Spectrum
  • Women’s Health Issues

How does Mind-Body Nutrition work?

We are all very different and unique individuals! Mind-Body Nutrition begins by identifying your bio-individual nutrition and health needs. Through several comprehensive tools your Nutritional Therapist will put together a personalized diet, lifestyle, and supplement nutrition plan that is tailored specifically towards your goals. Recommendations are always unique to your bio-individual needs and therefore will address your very specific health concerns and goals. Included in the process is ongoing support to ensure that you break down the barriers and overcome negative patterns in order to achieve lasting results.

Discover your full potential by learning to nourish your body through nutrient-dense, whole foods and lifestyle improvements. Through education and support, we will provide you with life-long tools that you can use to help you feel your best, take control over your life and optimize the health of you and your loved ones.

Mind-Body Nutrition places heavy emphasis on the following foundational aspects of health:

  • Proper Digestion
  • Blood Sugar Regulation
  • Mineral Balance
  • Fatty Acid Balance
  • Proper Hydration
  • A Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods Diet

What should I expect from my Nutritional Therapist?

Your Nutritional Therapist will be your personal guide to optimal health. We will work to build a therapeutic, supportive relationship with you in order to better assist you through this journey. To begin, using several comprehensive tools, we will put together a personalized diet, lifestyle, and supplement nutrition plan that is tailored specifically towards your goals.

You will meet regularly with your therapist to address psychosocial and behavioral barriers, learn new skills and more! The mind, body  and spirit are complex, interconnected pieces of a puzzle that must be able to communicate and work as partners. We welcome you to think of your Mind-Body Nutrition sessions as therapy that addresses the whole person – Mind, Body & Soul!

The road to health is an ongoing process. We understands that making changes can be difficult and will tailor your plan step-by-step along the way with realistic, reachable goals. Your feed back and honesty is essential to the process and you will play an integral part in your Mind-Body Nutrition at all times.

Functional Evaluation

The Functional Evaluation helps your Nutritional Therapy Practitioner identify areas of specific weakness in the body and your bio-individual nutrition needs. This hands on evaluation is unique to Nutritional Therapy. It is a non-invasive assessment tool which will be performed on a treatment table within Move Physical Therapy’s clinic. You will be asked to wear comfortable clothing for appointments wherein a functional evaluation will be conducted.

During the Functional Evaluation, your practitioner will palpate with mild to moderate pressure on specific physiological indicator points on your body. For each point, your body will provide important feedback and you will be asked to report a tenderness rating of 0 to 10. Your practitioner will explain to you the physiological indicator of the different points as you move through the evaluation. In addition to physical palpation, several other assessment tools may be used including blood pressure, pulse, taste tests and more.

The Functional Evaluation will provide valuable information about the following health priorities and systems:

  • Digestion
  • Blood Sugar Handling
  • Fatty Acid Balance
  • Tissue Mineral Status
  • Hydration
  • Endocrine
  • Immune & Allergy
  • Cardiovascular
  • Neurological

Your practitioner will perform different sections of the Functional Evaluation tailored to your individual needs based on their review of your Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire, Initial Interview Form and the information you provide during your nutritional therapy session.

Lingual-Neuro Testing

Lingual-Neural Testing (LNT) is a valuable biofeedback tool that enables your Nutritional Therapy Practitioner to determine the usefulness of a nutritional supplement to your body’s specific needs prior to adding it to your nutritional plan.
LNT accesses the body’s innate ability to discriminate between what it needs, and what it does not need, in order to correct a specific problem -a weak organ or a nutritional deficiency, for example. This simple and effective technique makes the difference between a generic nutritional therapy plan and a individualized one.

The phenomenon that is observed with LNT represents:

  • The existences of physiologic indicators, like the heart rate, that reflect specific body functions and their relative health.
  • The powerful connection between the sensory function of the mouth and the brain, or central nervous system (CNS).
  • The ability of the CNS to recognize the value of what is in the mouth (i.e. a nutritional supplement).
  • The tendency of the CNS to immediately change the physiologic indicator in response and proportional to the recognized value of a particular nutrient.

There are three fundamental questions that your Nutritional Therapy Practitioner needs to address with each client to provide effective nutritional therapy:

  • Is there a functional deficiency?
  • What particular nutrient will work for this client?
  • When is the client sufficient?

LNT enables your practitioner, once an assessment is complete, to address these questions by measuring your response to therapy options.

Indicators responsive to LNT are assessed in the following manner:

  • The baseline status of the physiological indicator is determined (i.e. the heart rate is taken) by the practitioner.
  • When the indicator is a reflex point, the practitioner will palpate the point with moderate pressure and you will be asked to rate the level of tenderness on a scale of 0 to 10.
  • A small sample of a considered nutrient is held in the mouth and fully tasted for 20-30 seconds.
    The status of the indicator is reassessed in the same manner as before.
  • If improved, the indicator confirms the usefulness of the nutritional supplement in supporting the specific body function that is related to the physiological indicator.
  • If the indicator was not improved, or is worse, you can assume that the nutrient being tested simply wasn’t right for your body’s current needs.

LNT can be an important contribution to a successful health recovery plan. LNT allows you to receive an individualized nutritional therapy plan that reflects both the value of your practitioner’s experience and the innate intelligence of your body.

Is Mind-Body Nutrition right for you?

If you are ready to take charge of your health then we are ready to help you get there. Mind-Body Nutrition is an interactive process between you and your Nutritional Therapist. Your Nutritional Therapist will provide you with counseling, knowledge, support and the tools you will need to help you along the way. It is your responsibility to implement your bio-individual plan and put those tools to use to reach your goals. The ultimate success results from your willingness to make lifestyle changes and take charge of your health.